The Great Attractor: A Transformers/Mass Effect crossover

Chapter 17: The Zone of Avoidance

They both knew the Quintessons' grip on them - of all Cybertronians - was vanquished once more. But instead of jubilation and triumph, Megatron and Optimus both felt something was wrong as the Decepticon held Optimus in his embrace . . . and Optimus felt the pain. The pain of loss, the pain of betrayal, the pain of helplessness. He could not hold back the deep sorrow he felt as he pressed his helm against Megatron's chest. It was a moment so fraught with emotion that Megatron wasn't sure how to react. How do you comfort someone when they are broken?

"I'm sorry," Megatron whispered, knowing it might be the right thing to say but unable to feel it at this point. He could feel something was wrong with Optimus via his EM field - then he realized their spark bond was weakening rapidly. Surprised, Megatron looked at Optimus with concern.

"What is it?" he asked carefully. A wave of sadness darkened his spirit as Optimus broke away from him and walked over to Samara.

"Megatron, I have reached my decision - I am not going back to Cybertron but will heed my inner calling and join Samara", the Autobot declared firmly. "The time has come for me to leave."

A sudden pang of guilt tore through Megatron's spark as he wondered what he had done wrong that after everything they had been through Optimus would voluntarily choose a life without him. But Optimus didn't seem to care one bit - instead, his face went through several emotions before settling into a hard expression of determination. He looked at Samara and then at Megatron.

"If I leave now, I may never return on Cybertron", he said. "While I know that the galaxy is safe from the Quintessons, there is much injustice, malice, and crime out there, innocents to be saved, evildoers to be punished. I am a Prime, and even before that, I was a cop. It is in my coding - in my core directive or final goal - to be the peacekeeper and protector of this domain. Cybertron itself does not need me nearly as much as the galaxy on the whole does. I should go."

"Goodbye, Optimus Prime", Megatron said quietly. In many ways he couldn't believe Optimus was rejecting and abandoning him like this - especially since he had just saved the galaxy!

Optimus simply turned around. "Goodbye, Megatron," he called out. "We'll see each other again someday. But I cannot guarantee the context or the nature of our next meeting."

Megatron watched Optimus, Bumblebee, and the fighters of Garrus Vakarian's team exit to the Citadel Presidium. There was no jealousy on Megatron's behalf - he thought of Samara as merely a difficult pet - and he could understand the contradiction between his own objectives and Optimus Prime's final goal: after all, it had kept the civil war on Cybertron going on for millions of years.

Four hundred years passed when Optimus Prime finally returned to Cybertron, only to discover that the planet had changed dramatically: lush and verdant, synthetic life had evolved functions and structures greatly resembling the flora and fauna of Earth but somehow with vast improvements - if he saw a tree, it was a far more elaborate, refined tree than anything you could find on Earth; and if he saw a tiger or a falcon, they weren't only far larger than any living creature on Earth; it was as though the planet itself had grown in sophistication and complexity, while still retaining many of its original characteristics.